With both my pregnancies I was iron deficient. My doctor told me “mushrooms, eggs and green leafy vegetables”. My doctor was brilliant, so what she said was gospel, and that was how I started to eat.
My husband was still playing football during my pregnancies(and still is), which left me to my own devices two nights a week while he was at training. So I started making easy, quick meals that were convenient to feed one person. And usually they were vegetarian, mainly because we get our meat from the family farm so everything is portioned out for the two of us – I am definitely carnivorous. If there were no left overs in the fridge or freezer, I was challenged to make a meal with what I had easy access to.
Mushrooms are delicious: raw, grilled, roasted, fried, doesn’t matter. Plus, my doctor told me I should eat mushrooms, not that I needed an excuse. When going shopping with my mum, she would buy the mighty big flat, portobello mushrooms when were at the green grocer, which I kind of thought was over kill (what’s wrong with the little button mushrooms?). She would just bake it with some olive oil and have it as a side – which is still absolutely scrumptious. I wanted to up the ante.
I always have semi dried tomatoes in the fridge or cupboard, there is always goat’s cheese in the freezer (it freezes brilliantly) and my tiny little garden has some type of herb in it and oregano hit the spot. So, I started stuffing my mushrooms with these yummy (mostly Italian) ingredients and it was amazing!
When I started cooking with lupins, I realised how handy this little ingredient would have been when I was pregnant. Filled with protein and fibre (which is essential if you’re taking iron tablets), it would have boosted every meal I ate.
Now what is great with this dish: it’s not just for pregnant women! I’m still yet to get my 18-month-old to eat a whole mushroom (although her omelette the other day was filled with sliced mushrooms), but it is a great substitute for the traditional potato bake. There is no reason why you couldn’t make a huge tray of these in place of a potato dish when you’re entertaining a large number of people. It doesn’t have to be a meal on their own. And the lupins would keep people fuller for longer than your normal potato dish.
Please note: there is so much advice about what to eat, and what not to eat, when you’re pregnant. I was extremely strict for the first trimester when miscarriages are statistically more likely. In the second and third trimester, I slightly relaxed and ate feta and goat’s cheese when it was cooked. If you do not feel comfortable doing this, replace the goat’s cheese with cheddar. There is always substitutes.
Lupin and Semidried Tomato Stuffed Mushrooms
Serves 2
2 large mushrooms
2 tbsp lupin crumb
5-6 semidried tomatoes, sliced (in strips)
20g goat’s cheese
1 sprig oregano, chopped
garlic clove, minced
olive oil (or oil from semidried tomatoes)
Preheat oven to 180 degrees celsius.
Place the mushrooms upside down on a baking tray.
Add the lupin crumb and drizzle with oil.
Add semidried tomato, goat’s cheese, oregano and garlic.
Drizzle with oil.
Bake for 10 minutes.